The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly, to a printer capable of printing on both a cut sheet and a continuous sheet.
Conventionally, printers of this type comprise a platen and a printing head movable along the same. A printing sheet is wound around the platen when it is to be printed by the printing head. The platen, printing head, etc., are hidden by a cover. A cut-sheet guide is detachably mounted on the top face of the cover. The cut-sheet guide has a guide surface inclined at an angle to the top face of the cover. Inside the cover, a guide plate extends close to the platen, adjoining the guide surface. A cut sheet is guided to the platen by the cut-sheet guide and the guide plate. After the printing, it is transported along the cut-sheet guide again, to be discharged to the outside.
In printing on a continuous sheet, the sheet is inserted into the printer through a feed aperture in the rear face of the cover, and is fed to the platen by a tractor in the apparatus. After it is printed by the printing head, the continuous sheet is discharged through a discharge aperture in the top face of the cover, and is transported rearward along the top face. When using the continuous sheet, the cut-sheet guide is removed from the cover lest it hinder the discharge of the sheet.
In the conventional printer constructed in this manner, the cut-sheet guide must be attached to or detached from the cover, every time the printing mode is shifted between cut-sheet printing and continuous-sheet printing. Thus, the apparatus cannot enjoy high operating efficiency. When using a continuous printing sheet, moreover, the unprinted or supply-side portion of the sheet and the printed or discharge-side portion thereof come into contact with each other, at the back of the cover. Due to friction between these sheet portions, therefore, the sheet is subjected to an undesired load. In consequence, the continuous sheet cannot be fed steadily to the platen.